[Composed at Lerici on the Gulf of Spezzia in the spring and early summer of 1822 — the poem on which Shelley was
engaged at the time of his death. Published by Mrs. Shelley in the “Posthumous Poems” of 1824, pages 73-95. Several
emendations, the result of Dr. Garnett’s examination of the Boscombe manuscript, were given to the world by Miss
Mathilde Blind, “Westminster Review”, July, 1870. The poem was, of course, included in the “Poetical Works”, 1839, both
editions. See Editor’s Notes.]